Let's Go Girls: An Examination of Modern Christian Womanhood in Canada, 1880–1950
Date
2024-08-20
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Masters
Abstract
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Canadians were increasingly debating the rightful place of women in modern society. Religious leaders were losing their universal moral authority with the rise of secularization, science, and Darwinism. Women faced changing opportunities and expectations of their gender through the war efforts, the image of the New Woman, the rising international influence of suffragists, and the burgeoning interest in social hygiene. This thesis explores how expectations for women shifted in light of these social changes and aims to complicate the historical narrative by examining the often-conflicting views of Canadians in varying levels of social authority. Drawing upon a wide range of primary sources, including sermons, public addresses, newspaper articles, letters, and court proceedings, the thesis provides a more nuanced understanding of how different groups perceived modern womanhood according to their political and social goals. The first chapter examines how two Protestant religious leaders engaged with the changing scientific, social, and political factors of the time and influenced family values across the country by describing the future of proper womanhood. The second chapter investigates how Emily Murphy (1868–1933), a prominent Canadian maternal feminist, challenged the traditional view of proper womanhood and spread her image of a modern Christian woman in public and private ways. The third chapter explores how Canadian women responded to religious leaders and Murphy’s depictions of womanhood and decided for themselves what to accept and ingratiate into their lives. This nuanced investigation demonstrates how the identity of the modern Christian woman was not one uniform idea but instead was complex and changed according to women’s political and social aims.
Description
Keywords
history, women's history, religious history, feminist history, Canadian history, late nineteenth century, early twentieth century, maternal feminism, womanhood, Emily Murphy, Salem Bland, feminism, eugenics, purity, hygiene, social hygiene, moral hygiene, identity, Protestant leaders, Protestantism, WCTU, Western Canada, Ontario, New Woman, modern woman, Darwinism, Darwin, secularization, suffrage, family values, temperance
Citation
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
History
Program
History